Kids Books & the Arts Grants

Ann Hoey, Youth Services Coordinator, New Hampshire State Library sent out this announcement today:

Public libraries are invited to apply for a Kids, Books and the Arts grant. You can find the application on the following web page: http://www.nh.gov/nhsl/services/librarians/kids_books.html
Please read the application carefully, and fill it out completely. I am happy to answer questions as you complete the application, but we will not be able to consider applications with missing parts or incorrect budget sheets once they are submitted.
I've extended the application deadline to Friday, April 9, 2010. I will be away from the library from April 6-9, so if you have questions about the grant, please contact me before then. Remember that you can find your per capita income on the public annual report of 2008 at the following web page: http://www.nh.gov/nhsl/lds/2008Statistics.html

NH Public Library Annual Report

Just as a reminder ~

With Tom Ladd’s resignation this month, you’re probably wondering about the NH Public Library Annual Report and what to do with it.

1. The Annual Report is due Monday, April 19, 2010.
2. If you haven’t started your report and don’t remember your Username and Password please contact Darlene (271-2392 or darlene.reinhard@dcr.nh.gov)
3. Contact Janet Eklund (271-2393 or janet.eklund@dcr.nh.gov) at the NH State Library for more specific questions.
4. Your signature page may be sent to Darlene at the NH State Library, 20 Park Street, Concord NH 03301-6314 or via van delivery to NHSL-Concord attn: Darlene.

Please feel free to contact either Darlene or Janet for help.

Brief searching outage 3/22

Monday, March 22: NHU-PAC searching will be disabled for a few minutes starting at 7:35 a.m. This is to allow installation of an updated index. Searching service should be restored within 10 minutes.

Brief searching outage 3/19

Friday, March 19: NHU-PAC searching will be disabled for a few minutes starting at 7:40 a.m. This is to allow installation of an updated index. Searching service should be restored within 10 minutes.

Finding new records

As noted here yesterday, bibliographic records added to the NHU-PAC since midday Monday won't be findable via keyword searches until Friday morning. If you can't wait to download records for newly released books like Michael Lewis's The Big Short or DVDs like The Princess and the Frog, be aware that you can find them via browse searches. Choose the Browse Indexes subtab under either the Welcome to NHU-PAC or Advanced Searching tabs. For AV materials, remember that the Numbers Appearing on Materials search is a useful tool under Browse Indexes.

Normally, new records are findable with keyword searches almost immediately after they are loaded. Right now, though, we're rebuilding our keyword indexes in the wake of this week's server problem and this process takes all day because of the size of our database.

The Picturing America Collection

Debbie Watrous, Executive Director, New Hampshire Humanities Council forwarded this to me and asked me to share it with the NH library community. It originally came from the ALA Public Programs Office

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the ALA Public Programs Office have extended the deadline for public libraries to apply for a $2,000 grant to support programs that incorporate the Picturing America collection. Applications will be accepted through April 26 at www.programminglibrarian.org/picturingamerica.

Additionally, the terms of the grant have been expanded so that all public libraries are considered eligible to apply. Successful applicants that have not received the Picturing America collection will receive the set of posters featuring reproductions of American artwork in addition to the cash grant. For a list of images included in the Picturing America collection, see http://www.programminglibrarian.org/picturingamerica/general/images
or visit NEH’s image gallery (http://picturingamerica.neh.gov/about.php).

To qualify for the programming grant, propose a program or program series that
features high-quality humanities content and includes use of the Picturing America collection. After the grant term ends in February 2011, ALA will select a few of the strongest, most creative programs that combine the visual arts with humanities content to showcase at the 2011 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

Resources to help start your application, including Let’s Talk About It: Picturing America reading lists, thematic film lists, tips on bringing authors and storytellers to your library and One Book One Community support materials can be found at http://www.programminglibrarian.org/picturingamerica/proposal-resources.

Visit http://www.programminglibrarian.org/picturingamerica to find more inspiration and resources to support humanities programs for public audiences of all ages that feature the Picturing America collection.

NHU-PAC Wednesday PM update

Wednesday, March 17, 3:20 p.m.: Further diagnostics indicate it shouldn't be necessary to restart the main NHU-PAC server so we're back to normal after two days of diminished functionality. If you find something not working the way you're used to in the NHU-PAC, please contact the NHAIS Help Desk at 271-2141.

NHU-PAC is back

Wednesday, March 17, 12:40 p.m.: NHU-PAC's main server has had a drive replaced and things appear to be functioning normally now. In the background, damage assessment is going on, extra backups are happening, and file systems are being rebuilt. A SirsiDynix engineer says it's unlikely there will be the need for another interruption of service today but be aware it's possible and we may not be able to give much, if any, notice.

Right now bibliographic records added through midday Monday are searchable via keyword indexes. New records added since then won't be searchable until Friday morning.

NHU-PAC Wednesday mid-morning update TAKE 2

Wednesday, March 17, 10:30 a.m.: There's been a further delay in getting the needed part here. It's possible the NHU-PAC drive swap may not happen until this afternoon but, having now had direct communication today with the three other parties involved in this operation (NH Department of Information Technology, SirsiDynix, Sun Microsystems), I think there's good reason to believe the fix will happen today. Not likely this morning, alas.

NHU-PAC Wednesday mid-morning update

Wednesday, March 17, 10:00 a.m.: I'm now told to expect the new part and the technician to install it at 10:30, not 8. So, same status as yesterday for now but performance improvements anticipated by late morning.

NHU-PAC Wednesday AM update

Wednesday, March 17, 7:40 a.m.: Help is on the way. Sometime between 8 and 9 o'clock this morning, the problem drive on our main server is to be replaced. This may result in additional disruptions to NHU-PAC service but we should be on our way to recovery by mid-morning.

NHU-PAC Tuesday pm update

Tuesday, March 16, 3:30 p.m.: At this point in the day it's highly unlikely we'll be getting new hardware (if needed) today so expect another night of limited NHU-PAC operation. An engineer from Sun Microsystems (the manufacturer) is still examining the server.

NHU-PAC Tuesday midday update

Tuesday, March 16, 12:40 p.m.: Sun continues to evaluate our main server to determine the best course of action to get the NHU-PAC back up to speed.

NHU-PAC Tuesday AM update

Tuesday, March 16, 8:05 a.m.: This day dawns with the NHU-PAC functioning as it was last night: not very well. You can connect to the site but searches will either yield no results or take an awfully long time. A Sun Microsystems engineer is looking at our server to determine what needs to be fixed.

NHU-PAC update Monday PM 3/15

Monday, March 15, 3:30 p.m.: SirsiDynix has determined that a bad disk is the source of our problems; we're waiting to hear from Sun Microsystems about replacing it. NHU-PAC will probably remain in limited service through sometime tomorrow. You'll be able to connect to the site but searches will either be very slow or yield no results.

NHU-PAC status update

Monday, March 15, 2:15 p.m.: NHU-PAC is currently working--but verrrrry slowly. If you can, save your searching for later. We've just found a backup disc problem that didn't turn up in previous diagnostics and are working with SirsiDynix on the problem.

NHU-PAC searching down again

Monday, March 15, 1:35 p.m.: NHU-PAC searching is once again giving us the "unable to retrieve results" message. We going back for another look at the server.

NHU-PAC searching restored

Monday, March 15, 1:20 p.m.: NHU-PAC's main server is back online and the searching service has been restored. The server maintenance work has been completed and we do not expect any further interruptions today.

NHU-PAC outage Monday 3/15

Monday, March 15, 12:35 p.m.: NHU-PAC's main server is offline at this time. You'll be able to reach the NHU-PAC but all searches will yield an "unable to retrieve results" message until the server's back up.

Possible outage Monday afternoon 3/15

Heads up: it's possible we may have to restart NHU-PAC's main server early this afternoon while doing some maintenance work. If that happens, most NHU-PAC functions will be unavailable for 5 or 10 minutes. We'll try to issue a specific notice if this step is necessary but be aware that that's not always possible.

If you are looking for Michael York ...

Janet Eklund, Administrator of Library Operations, NHSL, sent this message out to the NH Library community this morning:

If NH librarians are not aware already, I am sending this email to the listserv. Michael York, State Librarian, will be out of the office for 3-4 weeks. He is recuperating from a heart attack which occurred Saturday, March 6th and has been instructed to be off the job while he heals and becomes stronger. I am in contact with Michael daily and can assure you that he is cheerful, doing well and would prefer to be in his office at the State Library or out meeting with NH librarians. If you have been working with Michael on projects and other library issues, please contact me so that I can do my best to assist you in his absence. Please understand that there are many projects in which Michael has been directly involved and for which I may only be partially current. I am happy to work with you while Michael is on leave.
Best regards,
Janet Eklund
20 Park Street
Concord, NH 03301
603-271-2393
janet.eklund@dcr.nh.gov

Biography Resource Center

I'm sorry to say that due to recent budget cuts the Biography Resource Center database will not be renewed. The subscription will expire at the end of this week. Please remember to update your library's database links.

Connexion Software and Windows 7

If you read the title of this post and thought "what is connexion?" you can stop reading now as this doesn't relate to you.

For those of you who use OCLC Connexion software for cataloging -- I got this email from our OCLC network, LYRASIS (formerly NELINET). We haven't switched to Windows 7 so I don't know if it presents issues or not, but if you are moving forward with that transition this info may be helpful.

Some libraries are starting to move their staff to Windows 7 and we at LYRASIS are starting to get questions about how to make the OCLC Connexion Client work with Windows 7.

If you are either getting a new computer with Windows 7 or having your computer upgraded, here is important information to help you make a successful transition of your OCLC Connexion Client to Windows 7.

#1 - TO MAKE CONNEXION CLIENT WORK WITH WINDOWS 7
Follow OCLC
directions for Windows Vista in OCLC Connexion Client “Getting
Started”


FROM “Getting Started”
http://www.oclc.org/us/en/support/documentation/connexion/client/gettingstarted/gettingstarted/
The
client does not run in native 64-bit versions of Windows, but it does run in a
32-bit virtual session inside a 64-bit operating system. If you want to run the
client using a 64-bit Windows operating system, you can download:
VMware
Player at http://www.vmware.com/products/player
Or
Virtual PC at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=04D26402-3199-48A3-AFA2-2DC0B40A73B6&displaylang=en
Either of these downloads allows you to run a 32-bit version of Windows XP
or Vista inside 64-bit Windows XP or 64-bit Windows Vista.
**Another
alternative is to run the 32 bit version of Windows 7 instead of the 64 bit
version and then the Client will run.

#2 - LOCAL DATA FILES IN
WINDOWS 7/VISTA
Don’t forget to copy your local save files and configuration
files before you give up your old computer so you can put them on your new
computer or operating system.
In Windows XP the files are located
at:

X:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Application
Data\OCLC\Connex\Db

In Windows 7 or Vista you will need to copy
them to:
X:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming
-----------------------------------

Brief searching outage 3/3

Wednesday, March 3: NHU-PAC searching will be disabled for a few minutes starting at 7:40 a.m. This is to allow installation of an updated index. Searching service should be restored within 10 minutes.